The Last Guardian story arc.

(Spoilers ahead.)

The Last Guardian was a rather odd experience – different yet interesting. The story kicks off with the kid (you) waking up to find that he is with a giant man-eating beast named Trico. After the initial steps in which you feed Trico and release him from his binds, the two of you begin to explore the vast network of tunnels and ruins later known as the The Lair of the Beast.

The pair continue on their journey encountering – what appears to be – animated terracotta soldiers who seem to be hell-bent on keeping Trico locked away in the caverns/prevent it from leaving. The boy and Trico overwhelm the would-be guards and eventually encounter another Trico who fights the pair twice before having its mask shattered and flees into the skies leaving the pair to continue their journey.

Finally the pair reach the very last tower in the valley where the boy attempts to defeat some sort of blob while Trico is assaulted by a horde of Tricos all returning with their captured prey which – as seen in the cutscene movie – are then converted into the energy barrels that feed the Tricos (and the barrels YOU have been tossing to Trico to feed – well then…).

The story is told via interaction with some narration in between from an older boy who is now a man but is recounting his experiences of when he was abducted by the Trico whom he befriends after the beast is struck by lightning and has its mask destroyed. Based on that discovery, it would appear that the valley was the blob’s creation, and that the Tricos were being used to harvest random villagers to be turned into food for the beasts in order to sustain their possession. After the masks are shattered and the signal from the tower stops pulsing the Tricos all seem to revert back to a passive, almost small dog-like mindset where they are curious of the world, are unafraid to defend their companions, but ultimately would rather be left alone.

The relationship between the boy and his Trico is quite an amusing one; you see from time to time the beast looking for affection from the little boy who is small enough to be crushed under one foot, and yet is able to climb onto the Trico and ride the beast from time to time. The pair become best friends and in the end when Trico returns the boy to his village he is reluctant to send him away.

This story arc was an odd one as I am not used to stories that present little information, and instead relies on actions and interaction between the player and the environment – sure other games are the same, but at least there is discussion and the story moves forward via dialogue. The story for the Last Guardian still progresses, but in a different way and one that is unique unto itself (though probably has been done before; seldom are ideas unique in this day and age). One thing to note before moving on, they seldom explore the story behind the ruins; who built it and why it was there (earlier I assumed it was the blob that created it all to imprison the Tricos, but it is never really explained in the story). This aspect is probably left out to give the player a sense of mystery – that a long-forgotten civilization left its mark on the world and what they had set in motion centuries ago still functions to this day.

Now for those of you wondering you do not need to play the creator’s previous titles of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus – Fumito Ueda seems to have made the Last Guardian as a separate game and one that is not tied to previous works that he has produced. Good news for those who would rather skip titles before 2006 and jump straight into The Last Guardian on PS4 – nothing worse than having to complete work just to understand a game (nobody likes to work for play, they just want to play).

The Last Guardian, an interesting story format and one that definitely will stand as a different experience from all the war stories and sports simulators out there; ultimately if you want to play it then by all means. However should you only have two hours to spare for the story I will link the entire game movie below. Also listed below is Patreon: a dollar at a time goes a long way to keeping this blog afloat – thanks for reading everyone.